A busy weekend if Tiger Woods is to catch up in Australia

Nov 12, 2010, 7:28 GMT

Sydney - Defending champion Tiger Woods was Friday nine shots adrift at the half-way stage of the Australian Masters after a second-round 1-over 72 on a windswept and occasionally rain-lashed Melbourne course.

The world number two was again let down by his putting, as he was on the first day when he carded a 69 in perfect conditions. Woods, who has not won a tournament in 51 weeks, was upstaged by fellow back-in-the game champion Sergio Garcia, who went round in 65 amid driving rain and blustery winds.

After a miserable 73 on the first day, the Spaniard had looked set to be at the airport before the weekend.

'To tell you the truth, it was 65 but it wasn't the lowest I could have shot today,' an ebullient Garcia said.

The field going round the sandy links at the Victoria Golf Club is one of the weakest Woods has faced all year. But still he failed to dominate, easily making the plus-3 cut but leaving himself with 10 players to overhaul if he is to get ahead of leader Adam Bland of Australia and retain the only title he still holds.

The forecast for the weekend is for more rain and wind.

At this stage last year, Woods himself had a buffer of 10 strokes going into the weekend. He was on a roll, winning five of the 16 tournaments he had played in.

This year, he is without a win from 10 starts and has only finished in the top 10 twice - including a share of sixth in Shanghai earlier this month.

Read more about Golf Australia

Read more about People